Echoes
by Commander Fulcrum
Summary: Ahsoka Tano's brush with Darth Vader brings up both urgent, mysterious questions and memories, echoes of a lost life.


Ahsoka focused inwards, channeling her energy. The Force wrapped around her, her and Kanan's aura mingling as they reached, making their way across the folds of space and time. Her ethereal, ghostly fingers brushed another's, meeting in the middle, and a chill - so achingly, horribly, familiar - met her, wrapping her in its dark grasp.

She knew that presence, somewhere, somehow. That energy; She'd only ever felt that once before…

 _I understand. More than you know, I understand wanting to walk away from the Order._

Ahsoka recoiled, horror coursing through her veins at the echoes of memories, tinged with grief and loss, a cry ripping from her throat as she toppled back. No. It couldn't be him. Couldn't, because even though the stars burned out, every day ended with night, every flame went out, the Son of the Suns could not go into such eternal eclipse. The man who walked the skies could not have been corrupted so thoroughly, his core spark now so dark it clenched her heart, made her soul writhe.

Her vision went dark, the view of the Ghost and Kanan and Hera disappearing, morphing into people older. Dearer.

 _A man sat beside her, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she wearily predicted his verdict. "You're reckless, little one." Anakin begins. "You never would've made it as Obi-Wan's apprentice." She turns her head away, holding back tears, steadying her quivering lips. "But you might make it as mine." His words light her up, and she swings her head toward him, eyes wide with shock and slowly dawning delight. His mouth twitches to one side in the soft beginnings of a half smile - the first she has seen from him - and the young Knight rises. "Come on," He beckons to his Padawan, his apprentice, his new companion. Skyguy and Snips. She will forever relish that nickname, whisper it to herself, in her mind in the darkest of times._

 _Ahsoka crouches low against the rock, more experienced now in the art of war. Worry courses its way through her mind. "What about General Kenobi? He could be injured, or -"_

" _No time for that kind of talk, Snips!" Anakin cuts her off swiftly. He turns, giving out orders to Rex and the other troopers, then turns back to her. "Ahsoka, you're with me. We need to give Rex cover when we attack."_

" _Got it," She fumbles, very aware of before. "Just… give the word."_

 _He softens, the lines in his face becoming less, and he lays a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I'm worried about him too. But you have to keep your mind in the here and now, otherwise we'll never be able to help Obi-Wan." She nods, understanding, and he squeezes her shoulder briefly before they sling packs over their shoulders, and sprint towards the cliff face._

 _Later, when they've made it to the rendezvous point, she runs to Master Kenobi, resting her hand on his arm. He looks dirty and more than a bit bruised and battered, but alive. Anakin arrives on her heels, and she can see the relief on his face, which he expresses in the ever-present banter that they share. And in the midst of this war, she feels the slightest bit of peace just at their side._

 _Ahsoka can see - feel, in his bright, fiery presence - Anakin's relief. His suppressed concern. His surprise at her gratitude as she bows, the slow, spreading of the happiness, the peaceful joy of this moment they share. Master and Padawan. They exchange bows, each smiling at this rare display, and if someone were to ask her what she wanted at this moment, her answer would be nothing. Absolutely nothing. They make their way back to the Temple - together._

 _He does not abandon her. Not now, not ever. Anakin's presence is as if a comforting arm around her, a last affectionate gesture in case things do not work out. If the trial goes wrong._

 _Perhaps they do not, because a part of her dies that day._

 _The pain in his eyes are arrows in her body, her soul, daggers in her heart of hearts. The tears do not dull the agony, the utter grief and loss as she descends the steps, and she has half a mind to go back. But the betrayal is still fresh for her, and Ahsoka cannot, will not lie to herself. Not even if it means leaving everyone behind - even the person who she'd loved like a brother. Even if they both die a bit this day, their blood an eternal stain, the wound never to be truly healed._

 _Even if their paths diverge from this point on. Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano - never again._

Ahsoka almost drowns in the flood of memories and voices and faces and emotions. Even after she awakens, everyone concerned, the battle won, the echoes do not stop. They whisper of what could have been then, and what was. And what could be now. And what it means.

She cannot possibly believe that her dear, dear mentor, teacher, brother, is Darth Vader. Servant of the Dark Lord. But that does not change what she has felt. What she has seen.

 _I will find the truth. I promise._


End file.
